Last update: 2012/01/12

The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)

MPEG technologies

The scope of activity of the Moving Picture Coding Experts Group (MPEG) covers standardisation of all technologies that are required for interoperable multimedia. A rough classification of areas covered by MPEG standards is

Media coding	Composition coding	Description coding	System support
IPMP	Digital Item	Transport and file format	User interaction
Multimedia architecture	Application formats	Generic media technologies	Reference implementations
Conformance	Maintenance

			Technology Area	Summary	1-pager	White paper	Presentation
1.			Media coding	Standards to represent natural and synthetic media such as audio, video, graphics etc. in a bit-efficient way
	1.		*2D Video coding*	Coded representation of time-dependent 2-D arrays of pixels (video)
		1.	MPEG-1 Video	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-2 Video	X	X	X	X
		3.	MPEG-4 Visual (rectangular)	X	X	X	X
		4.	Shape coding (non-rectangular)	X	X	X	X
		5.	Advanced Video Coding	X	X	X	X
		6.	Scalable Video Coding	X	X	X	X
		7.	Multi-view video coding	X	X	X	X
		8.	High efficiency video coding	X	X	X	X
	2.		*Decoder* representation
		1.	Coding Tool Repository	X	X	X	X
	3.		*3D Video coding*	Coded representation of time-dependent 3-D arrays of pixels
		1.	Auxiliary Video Data Representation	X	X
		2.	3D video coding	X	X
	4.		*Audio coding*	Coded representation of audio (speech and music) information
		1.	MPEG-1 Audio	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-2 Audio	X	X	X	X
		3.	Advanced Audio Coding	X	X	X	X
		4.	Parametric Audio Coding	X	X	X	X
		5.	Spectral Band Replication	X	X	X	X
		6.	Lossless coding	X	X	X	X
		7.	Scalable Lossless coding	X	X	X	X
		8.	1-bit Lossless Coding	X	X	X	X
		9.	MPEG Surround	X	X	X	X
		10.	Spatial Audio Object Coding	X	X	X	X
		11.	Unified Speech and Audio Coding	X	X	X	X
		12.	Reference Audio Coding architecture	X	X	X	X
	5.		2D Graphic coding	Coded representation of 2D synthetic information
		1.	Texture coding	X	X	X	X
		2.	2D mesh coding	X	X	X	X
	6.		3D Graphic coding	Coded representation of 3D synthetic information
		1.	Face and Body Animation	X	X	X	X
		2.	3D mesh coding	X	X	X	X
		3.	AFX	X	X	X	X
		4.	3D Mesh coding	X	X	X	X
	7.		Synthetic audio coding	Coded representation of synthetic audio information
		1.	Structured audio	X	X	X	X
	8.		*Text coding*	Coded representation of text information
		1.	Streaming text format	X	X	X	X
	9.		*Font coding*	Coded representation of font information
		1.	Font compression and streaming	X	X	X	X
		2.	Open Font Format	X	X	X	X
		3.	Composite Font	X	X	X	X
	*10.*		*Music coding*	Coded representation of musical information
		1.	Symbolic Music Representation	X	X	X	X
	*11.*		*Media Context and Control*	Coded representation of information designed to stimulate other senses than vision or audition, e.g., olfaction, mechanoreception, equilibrioception, or thermoception.
		1.	Control information	X	X	X	X
		2.	Sensory information	X	X	X	X
		3.	Virtual Object characteristics	X	X	X	X
		4.	Data Formats for Interaction Devices	X	X	X	X
		5.	Common Types and Tools	X	X	X	X
2.			Composition coding	Standards to describe how different media objects are composed in a scene
	1.		Composition coding	Coded representation of the composition of media objects in a scene
		1.	Binary Format for Scenes	X	X	X	X
		2.	Audio BIFS	X	X	X	X
		3.	BIFS for digital radio	X	X	X	X
		4.	Lightweight Scene Representation	X	X	X	X
		5.	Presentation and Modification of Structured Information	X	X	X	X
		6.	Scene adaptation	X	X	X	X
3.			Description coding	Standards to describe media content that can be stored and transmitted for use by a machine
	1.		Description *technologies*	Descriptors, Description Schemes, Description Definition Language and efficient representation technologies
		1.	Description Definition Language	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-7 Schemas	X	X	X	X
	2.		Video description	Description of video and image information
		1.	Low level descriptions	X	X	X	X
		2.	High level descriptions	X	X	X	X
		3.	Overview	X	X	X	X
		4.	Visual description tools	X	X	X	X
		5.	Image signature	X	X	X	X
		6.	Video signature	X	X	X	X
		7.	Compact Descriptors for Visual Search	X	X	X	X
	3.		Audio description	Description of audio information
		1.	Low level descriptions	X	X	X	X
		2.	High level descriptions	X	X	X	X
	4.		*Multimedia* description	Description of information types that are used in multimedia applications
		1.	Multimedia Description Schemes	X	X	X	X
	5.		*Profiles*	Restrictions of the MPEG-7 tool set to satisfy application domains
		1.	Simple Metadata Profile	X	X	X	X
		2.	AudioVisual Description Profile	X	X	X	X
	6.		*Query*	Restrictions of the MPEG-7 tool set to satisfy application domains
		1.	MPEG Query Format	X	X	X	X
4.			Systems support	Standards to enable the use of digital media by an application
	1.		Multiplexing and synchronisation	Technologies to serialise multiple media sources and to keep them synchronised
		1.	MPEG-1	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-2	X	X	X	X
		3.	MPEG-4	X	X	X	X
		4.	M4Mux	X	X	X	X
			Signaling	Protocols to interact with a delivery system
		1.	DSM-CC User to User	X	X	X	X
		2.	DSM-CC User to Network	X	X	X	X
		3.	DMIF	X	X	X	X
5.			IPMP	Standards to enable Management and Protection of Intellectual Property related to digital media objects
	1.		General	General information on MPEG IPMP technologies
		1.	MPEG Technologies for DRM	X	X	X	X
	2.		Identification Technologies	Technologies to uniquely identify media objects
		1.	MPEG-2 Copyright Identifier	X	X	X	X
		2.	Object Content Information	X	X	X	X
		3.	Digital Item Identification	X	X	X	X
	3.		Rights Expression Technologies	Syntax and semantics of Rights Expression Languages and Dictionary of terms of Rights Data
		1.	Rights Expression Language	X	X	X	X
		2.	Contract Expression Language	X	X	X	X
		3.	Rights Data Dictionary	X	X	X	X
		4.	Media Value Chains	X	X	X	X
	4.		Persistent Association Technologies	Technologies to bind information to resources in a persistent fashion
		1.	Evaluation Tools for Persistent Association	X	X	X	X
	5.		Access Technologies	Protocols to access IPMP tools when they are required by an IPMP system
		1.	MPEG-2 IPMP	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-4 IPMP	X	X	X	X
		3.	MPEG-21 IPMP	X	X	X	X
		4.	XML Representation of IPMP-X messages	X	X	X	X
6.			Digital Item	Standards to represent structured digital objects, including identification, metadata and governance information
	1.		Digital Item Technologies	Technologies designed to deal specifically for Digital Items, such as Digital Item Declaration, Digital Item Processing and Event Reporting
		1.	Digital Item Declaration	X	X	X	X
		2.	Digital Item Processing	X	X	X	X
		3.	C++ bindings	X	X	X	X
		4.	Session mobility	X	X	X	X
		5.	Event Reporting	X	X	X	X
		6.	Schema Files	X	X	X	X
		7.	Digital Item Presentation	X	X	X	X
	2.		Resources in Digital Items	Handling of resources in Digital items such as when adapting or identifying fragments
		1.	Digital Item Adaptation	X	X	X	X
		2.	Fragment Identification for MPEG Resources	X	X	X	X
7			Transport and File Format	Standards to enable the transport of digital media by means of files or transport protocol
	1.		Transport of Media Streams	Technology to transport digital media information on a transport protocol
		1.	Program Stream	X	X	X	X
		2.	Transport Stream	X	X	X	X
		3.	Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP	X	X	X	X
	2.		Media File Formats	Technology to package digital media information in a file
		1.	ISO Base Media File Format	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-4 File Format	X	X	X	X
		3.	AVC File Format	X	X	X	X
		4.	SVC File Format	X	X	X	X
		5.	MVC File Format	X	X	X	X
		6.	Sub-track selection & switching	X	X	X	X
	3.		Transport of Digital Items	Technology to transport digital items
		1.	Digital Item File Format	X	X	X	X
		2.	Digital Item Streaming	X	X	X	X
8.			User interaction	Technologies for user interaction
	1.		User interaction	Technologies for user interaction
		1.	Widgets	X	X	X	X
		2.	Advanced User Interaction	X	X	X	X
9.			Multimedia architecture	Reference models and technology to enable the use of digital media in a device or by an application
	1.		Terminal Architecture	Reference architectures for MPEG standards
		1.	MPEG-1	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-2	X	X	X	X
		3.	MPEG-4	X	X	X	X
		4.	Graphics Compression Model	X	X	X	X
		5.	MPEG-7	X	X	X	X
		6.	M3W Architecture	X	X	X	X
		7.	MPEG-M Architecture	X	X	X	X
		8.	MPEG-V Architecture	X	X	X	X
	2.		Application Programming Interfaces	API to enable enhanced use of rich media
		1.	MPEG-J	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-J GFX	X	X	X	X
		3.	M3W Multimedia API	X	X	X	X
		4.	MXM API	X	X	X	X
	3.		Terminals	API to enable enhanced use of rich media
		1.	M3W Component Model	X	X	X	X
		2.	M3W Resource and Quality Management	X	X	X	X
		3.	M3W Component Download	X	X	X	X
		4.	M3W Fault Management	X	X	X	X
		5.	M3W System Integrity Management	X	X	X	X
		6.	Reconfigurable Video Coding	X	X	X	X
	4.		Services	Protocols to support services
		1.	Elementary Services	X	X	X	X
		2.	Service Aggregation	X	X	X	X
10.			Application formats	Standards to support specific applications by means of component MPEG technologies
	1.		*Application formats*	Specification of formats for media players
		1.	Music Player	X	X	X	X
		2.	Photo Player	X	X	X	X
		3.	Musical Slide Show	X	X	X	X
		4.	Media Streaming	X	X	X	X
		5.	Professional Archival	X	X	X	X
		6.	Open Access	X	X	X	X
		7	Portable Video	X	X	X	X
		8.	Digital Multimedia Broadcasting	X	X	X	X
		9.	Video Surveillance	X	X	X	X
		10.	Stereoscopic Video	X	X	X	X
		11.	Interactive Music	X	X	X	X
11			Generic Media Technologies	Generic standard technologies for digital media to be used across MPEG standards
	1.		XML Technologies	XML-related technologies such as binarisation
		1.	Binary MPEG format for XML	X	X	X	X
	2.		Signal Processing Technologies	DSP technologies such as 8x8 DCT and IDCT, and coding tool specification
		1.	Generic inverse DCT specification	X	X	X	X
		2.	Fixed point implementation of DCT/IDCT	X	X	X	X
	2.		Bitstream Technologies	DSP technologies such as 8x8 DCT and IDCT, and coding tool specification
		1.	Bitstream Syntax Description Language	X	X	X	X
12.			Reference implementations	Implementation of MPEG standards using programming languages or Hardware Description Languages
	1.		Reference software	Implementation of MPEG standards using a programming language
		1.	MPEG-1	X	X	X	X
		2.	MPEG-2	X	X	X	X
		3.	MPEG-4	X	X	X	X
		4.	MPEG-7	X	X	X	X
		5.	MPEG-21	X	X	X	X
		6.	MPEG-A	X	X	X	X
		7.	MPEG-B	X	X	X	X
		8.	MPEG-C	X	X	X	X
		9.	MPEG-D	X	X	X	X
		10.	MPEG-E	X	X	X	X
		11.	MPEG-M	X	X	X	X
		12	MPEG-U	X	X	X	X
		13.	MPEG-V	X	X	X	X
	2.		Reference hardware description	Implementation of MPEG standards using a hardware description language
		1.	MPEG-4	X	X	X	X
13.			Conformance	Specification of procedures and data to test the conformance of encoders, bitstreams or decoders to an MPEG standard
	1.		MPEG-1	MPEG-1 conformance
		1.	Systems	X	X	X	X
		2.	Video	X	X	X	X
		3.	Audio	X	X	X	X
	2.		MPEG-2	MPEG-2 conformance
		1.	Systems	X	X	X	X
		2.	Video	X	X	X	X
		3.	Audio	X	X	X	X
		4.	DSM-CC	X	X	X	X
	3.		MPEG-4	MPEG-4 conformance
		1.	Systems	X	X	X	X
		2.	Visual	X	X	X	X
		3.	Audio	X	X	X	X
		4.	AVC
	4.		MPEG-7	MPEG-7 conformance
		1.	Systems	X	X	X	X
		2.	Visual	X	X	X	X
		3.	Audio	X	X	X	X
	5.		MPEG-21	MPEG-21 conformance
		1.	Digital Item Declaration	X	X	X	X
		2.	Rights Expression Language	X	X	X	X
		3.	Digital Item Adaptation	X	X	X	X
		4.	Digital Item Processing	X	X	X	X
		4.	Digital Item Processing	X	X	X	X
	6.		MPEG-A	MPEG-A conformance
		1.	Music Player	X	X	X	X
		2.	Photo Player	X	X	X	X
	7.		MPEG-B	MPEG-B conformance
	8.		MPEG-C	MPEG-C conformance
	9.		MPEG-D	MPEG-D conformance
	10.		MPEG-E	MPEG-E conformance
	11.		MPEG-M	MPEG-M conformance
	12.		MPEG-U	MPEG-U conformance
	13.		MPEG-V	MPEG-V conformance
14.			Maintenance	Activities designed to maintain the body of MPEG standards through the development of corrigenda and new editions
	1.		MPEG-1	MPEG-1 Maintenance
	2.		MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Maintenance
	3.		MPEG-4	MPEG-4 Maintenance
	4.		MPEG-7	MPEG-7 Maintenance
	5.		MPEG-21	MPEG-21 Maintenance
	6.		MPEG-A	MPEG-A Maintenance
	7.		MPEG-B	MPEG-B Maintenance
	8.		MPEG-C	MPEG-C Maintenance
	9.		MPEG-D	MPEG-D Maintenance
	10.		MPEG-E	MPEG-E Maintenance
	11.		MPEG-M	MPEG-M Maintenance
	12.		MPEG-U	MPEG-U Maintenance
	13.		MPEG-V	MPEG-V Maintenance